Regards, Ivan
Posted on 04/14/2006 12:48:03 AM PDT by MadIvan
Children should expect some of their lessons to be boring because life is not a "Disney ride", teachers said yesterday.
Too often pupils and parents expected lessons to be "all singing, all dancing" when the reality was that some learning could be tedious and hard work. Zoe Fail, a mathematics teacher. thinks that children are not bored enough because their lives are over-stimulated.
"Being bored encourages thinking skills and imaginative play," she said. "I remember being bored but I am not bored now because I know how to deal with it."
Miss Fail, from Kent, told delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' annual conference in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, that she did not have the energy to do "all singing, all dancing" lessons every hour of the day.
Barry Williams, a lecturer at Hertford Regional College, said: "I do not believe I teach boring lessons. Ofsted just don't understand the nuances and subtleties of my lessons.
"When they say to me: 'Mr Williams, that girl is looking out of the window staring at a tree,' I say: 'Do they not recognise the advanced stages of Zen Buddhism which I have brought into my lessons?'
"I am, in fact, producing adults who will be able to watch party political broadcasts.
"I am producing future teachers who can go through a day of Inset training."
Michael Boakes said pupils should realise that learning how to deal with boredom was a necessary lesson in life.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Ms. Fail, meet my favorite law firm:
Payne & Fears. ;)
http://www.paynefears.com/
bump
That said, I still believe in accountability for school districts to meet and maintain government standards of at least minimum student performance, and performance testing in elementary and middle schools is the only way to measure this achievement. (In the US there's much controversy over teachers' contentions that "We're only teaching the tests so the students can pass the tests." My cousin who is an elementary school teacher is very much against these tests.)
My favorite part:
When they say to me: 'Mr Williams, that girl is looking out of the window staring at a tree,' I say: 'Do they not recognise the advanced stages of Zen Buddhism which I have brought into my lessons?'
"I am, in fact, producing adults who will be able to watch party political broadcasts.
Would it not be beautiful if these "Zen Buddhism" kids turn their "skulls full of mush" (kudoos to Rush)into brilliant conservative minds after watching the pathetic liberals' "party political broadcasts": kids have a great sense of sensibility and know crap when they see it.
I still remember my discomfort and resentment towards my senior year social studies teacher when he belittled my conservative views in class. I had said that Eisenhower was a great president.
Translation: Teaching is hard and if I can lower expectations I don't have to do my job as a teacher.
Practice drills/homework is one issue. This teacher sounds just plain lazy or worse covering her incompetence.
There is just no way to make multiplication table memorization or handwriting and spelling practice as fascinating in the classroom as students would wish.
Learning the discipline to do necessary but boring work is a GOOD thing. I don't want a doctor who has to be "entertained" while he does his 1000th knee surgery, because he has become bored.
No no no... if a student finds a lesson boring then they should double their dose of ritalin. Just call up the school nurse, they are in a big blue bowl next to the condoms behind the counter.
Well if the tests truly do contain the subjects we as a society expect children to learn, then yes, teach to the test! I mean, writing a 5 paragraph essay, doing some simple algebra, knowing the bill of rights, naming some of the founding fathers, knowing the primary and secondary colors, jot a few notes about a couple of important literary and artistic figures and why they are important, discuss some aspects of civics, discuss the branches of government and why, etc...
I bet the 'test' is a 60 minute exam. That's probably the problem. Should be 8 hours filled with questions about all subjects... and not so much multiple choice, more writing, critical thought, etc.
Teach to the test, but make sure the test is the right kind of test. We don't need lazy teachers who just want to scan-tron the exam. Get some real teachers who will read the exams and mark them up.
And for good measure, make the teachers take the test too!
Zen Buddhism and Stoicism helped me through out school. I still learned all the really important things I know outside it of course. The only knowledge I accrued at public school, that I probably couldn't have outside, was how to ridicule people and hide in the herd; and technically I learned that from the other students. Of course to be fair, since those are the foundations of a "model citizenry," those lessons probably were an intended part of the public school curricula.
I agree and I've been saying this for years. Not knowing how to deal with boredom is a big problem in our culture. Art, writing, music, ideas - why do most all that have come out in the last 40 years suck? Welcome to the the generation of Those Who Must Be Entertained Constantly. If you never have to confront boredom, you never have to be creative. Learning to think, reason, analyze a problem, dig out facts, reach a conclusion based on facts, all those skills involve a great amount of what is today considered boring - therefore unnecessary. Look around you at the results.
"Some classes are ... anyone? Boring. Some classes are boring. They are taught by teachers with little ... who knows the answer? Anyone? Imagination. This is to prepare you for your future ... anyone? Bueller? jobs."
"Sea Fever" by John Mayesfield
"Invictus"
"Little Orphan Annie"
Marc Antony's Eulogy of Julius Caesar
It's a shame they don't do this anymore.
So true. Seemingly boring routines for periods of time make for a spontaneous release of joy and appreciation when things in and of themselves become exciting.
Perhaps, although I have noticed a disturbing trend in education and parenting, in which everything is supposed to be entertaining and fascinating.I think you got the point here that others here are missing. Study and homework are hard work and too many of today's kids just don't want to spend their time in those activities and too many of today's teachers have given up stressing the importance of those activities, or don't believe in the importance.There is just no way to make multiplication table memorization or handwriting and spelling practice as fascinating in the classroom as students would wish.
Learning the discipline to do necessary but boring work is a GOOD thing. I don't want a doctor who has to be "entertained" while he does his 1000th knee surgery, because he has become bore
I have a friend who's a grade-school teacher (3rd, 4th, 5th) who told me once that she believes that "more than 20 minutes homework is a waste of time". She is my friend. And yet, she is a blithering idiot.
What the world needs now is more homework.
That's the only thing, that there's just too little of.
My wife is from China, and whenever the two of us watch a TV show or a movie about teenage life in America she invariably says something like, "when I was in school, we didn't have time for anything but homework. And when I wasn't doing homework, I was trying to get just a little more sleep."
Maybe the Chinese and Japanese are a little over-the-top in the high-pressure they subject their kids too, but here in America, for the most part, we are way down in the gutter.
Homework isn't fun. So kids refuse to do it. And the entire education system is bending over backwards to reward, enable and justify their refusal.
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